A statue of the Virgin Mary was set on fire in Madhya Pradesh, in the village of Ishgar, which falls under the diocese of Jhabua. Sajan K George says that the fire "took place on 3 February last. The statue of Mary was found burnt in the grotto of the parish of St. Joseph, about 10 km away from the archbishop's house". The Christian community, he adds, "is very disturbed and its religious sentiment is deeply wounded".......

At least 98 Christians belonging to 23 tribal families have been "reconverted" to Hinduism in Tripura on Jan. 20, a far-right Hindu group The Hindu Jargan Manch claimed. Uttam Dey, president of the outfit said that, mostly those migrant workers from Bihar and Jharkhand, were converted to Christianity in 2010. "It is as if the lost family members had returned home," Dey added, according to Hindustan Times. The mass conversion ceremony was sponsored by the Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP)......

Police in the state of Uttar Pradesh (UP) arrested and then released four Christians, Mr. Sonu Kumar, Mr. Rakesh Maurya, Mr. Satnam and Mr. Shribaghwan, on charges of forced conversions. They were detained in Kasimaba village of Ghazipur district in UP. Mr. Sajan K George, president of the Global Council of Indian Christians (GCIC), denounced "the detention". He said, though the incident occurred a few days ago, it came to light only today......

15 to 20 people barged into the New Life Church in Kowad village and attacked about 40 people who were offering prayers on Sunday afternoon. The attackers were carrying knives, empty beer bottles, swords and iron rods. More than 10 people were injured in the attack. One of the victims named Tanaji Patil said that the attackers also vandalized vehicles in the village. Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) spokesperson Nawab Malik said, "The cops are claiming the involvement of (Hindu) right wing."....

A pastor in India said a mob of 300 Hindu extremists terrorized Christian children and threatened to beat them for attending a Sunday school class he was leading. Pastor Selva Raj of Amathur village in India’s Tamil Nadu state told Morning Star News that the attack happened on Nov. 11. The mob of 300 or so radicals destroyed a shed near the worship building before descending upon children in a Sunday school class.
“They took away the Bible storybooks and some....

Christians can heave sighs of relief as the ruling Hindu nationalist BJP has been thrown out of power in three key states in central India that have reported dozens of incidents of anti-Christian violence and harassment.
The BJP, which had enjoyed unstinted power in two of the states – Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh – for 15 years, winning three consecutive elections in both, was unseated when  .....